


Crest Holy Grail War

by Liza_Taylor



Series: Promptober 2020-Sylbern/Sylvadetta Edition [20]
Category: Fate/stay night - All Media Types, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, First Meetings, Gen, Holy Grail War (Fate), October Prompt Challenge, Summoning, Summoning Circles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27115498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: Bernadetta buys an old book from the bookstore and accidentally summons a servant with using the circle design in the book...Prompt: Summoning
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier & Bernadetta von Varley, Sylvain Jose Gautier/Bernadetta von Varley
Series: Promptober 2020-Sylbern/Sylvadetta Edition [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947940
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	Crest Holy Grail War

**Author's Note:**

> As a fan of the Fate series, I knew I had to write a cross-over at some point. This is honestly one of those ideas that I think would be fun to write a full grail war for(and I even have ideas on the rest of the Masters/servant combos too). However it would be A LOT of work to do so. X_X 
> 
> So for now it's just a single, quick one-shot for my month of Sylbern!
> 
> Also as for Sylvain's class, it's a seiyuu reference. His Japanese voice actor plays Achilles in the Fate-verse.

_“Sorry Bernie, something has come up, I’m going to need to cancel today, I’ll make it up to you, I promise, sorry about that!”_

Bernadetta stared at her phone and Dorothea’s text and then at the circle she had already traced in chalk in the floor of her living room. The book they had found at the antique shop open next to it on the floor. It was an incredibly old thing, the pages yellow and worn, the leather cover was cracked in places. As someone who loved collecting rare and weird old books, it had attracted Bernadetta’s attention immediately when they entered the shop. At first she wasn’t going to buy it, it was incredibly expensive but Dorothea offered to split the cost. Bernadetta hesitated, she didn’t like owing people money but Dorothea pointed out it could be an early birthday present.

After bringing it home, Bernadetta finally opened it and saw everything inside was written in a language she had never seen before, the words written in cursive letters. One of the pages had a drawing of a circle, symbols lining the edges, lines running from one side of the circle to the other. It was an intricate thing, the next couple of pages going into detail of what each of the symbols in the circle looked like up close. 

“Why don’t we try to recreate it?” asked Dorothea.

“Recreate it?” Bernadetta’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, this sounds like something that would do super well on my channel. What will happen if we try to recreate this circle we found in an old book?”

Bernadetta had a lot of ideas of what could happen, most of it from horror movies but in the end, she gave in to Dorothea’s suggestion. To help her out and since Bernadetta was much better in art, she drew most of the circle ahead of time in chalk so when Dorothea got here they could start filming right away.

Now what though!

She looked at the chalk circle on her floor. The only thing she had left to do was to complete the final line. All of her living room furniture was pushed to the side, the rug turned over. It wasn’t the first time Dorothea had used Bernadetta’s apartment for filming, the “aesthetic” was nice and Bernadetta didn’t mind helping her friends out. Plus Dorothea always made sure to credit Bernadetta which led to an increase in art commissions for a time. She thought she would get a head start and just draw most of it before Dorothea arrived so Dorothea would not need to watch her do it. That was one thing that made her really nervous.

The question was, what was she supposed to do with it now? There was no way she could keep the chalk drawing on her living room floor for a full week. It would probably better to just clean it up and then redraw it then. Or maybe Dorothea would not want to do the segment? She hoped so, playing with occult stuff was always asking for trouble.

“Well, you better get started Bernie so you can make dinner later,” she said with a murmur. She went to grab her chalk bucket, her foot brushing the unfinished section as she did so. Picking up the bucket, she almost dropped it in shock as the lines and symbols of the chalk circle began to glow. Glancing down, she realized when she had stepped onto the circle to get it, she had smudged a line just enough that it was connected by a thin narrow strip of smudged chalk.

How did something like that work!?

Wait, this was no time to be worrying about that, the chalk drawing she made was _glowing_. It was getting brighter too, more intense, static electricity seemed to crackle in the air around her, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. She clutched the bucket close to her chest as she backed up a few steps, her foot catching on something and she tumbled backwards, the chalks spilling everywhere. Her tailbone screamed in pain as she landed on it.

However the pain in her bottom was temporarily forgotten as a seething pain coursed through her left hand and then faded as quickly as it came on. Looking down at her hand in shock, she saw a red symbol on the back of her left hand, like a tattoo. An odd flower or a “u” shape with prongs over a “y” shaped stem. She rubbed at it but it didn’t go away.

She didn’t have long to ponder over that as she noticed the pressure in the room seemed to increase, the circle glowing to the point of blinding.

In the midst of this circle, a figure seemed to float down from nowhere. At first see through, but then he seemed to solidify. A man wearing silver armor, his hair tousled as if he just got out of bed in a dark, rich red.

The light and the pressure of the circle faded but the man was still there and he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment Bernadetta thought he wouldn’t see her, he seemed to be looking over her head, into her room but much to her dismay, his attention dropped to her. For a moment he seemed taken aback but then his expression shifted to neutral so fast that she wasn’t sure she even saw it. “I ask of you,” he said in a deep voice, “are you my Master?”

***

The will of Seiros was apparently a cruel thing.

Sylvain looked down at his new master. A frame that suggested she was one for books more than weights, her clothing modern, the purple hair ruffled and messy, those gray eyes wide in fear. He knew it wasn’t her, it couldn’t be her. Instead it was someone that looked like her, someone that had her essence.

He could see the command seals on the back of her left hand, another cruel twist of fate, her seals was that of Inech. He stepped off the chalk circle- obviously hand drawn- and kneeled in front of the shaking girl. “You okay? Did you hurt yourself when you fell down?”

“N…No,” she stammered. She clutched a bucket with a few chalks in it to her chest.

“Good.” He stood and looked around the apartment. “Your kitchen that way? Let me make you some hot chocolate.”

“Uh yeah. Wait…”

He walked into the small, cramped kitchen and couldn’t help but smile at the little knickknacks here and there. Of course she would have a dinosaur-shaped spaghetti strainer. Like he thought, her fridge was well stocked and after a bit of searching the shelves, he found something called, “hot chocolate mix”. No idea what that was but reading the instructions on the back, it sounded like it would work for his purpose. As he waited for the milk to heat up on the stove, he wondered how much she knew or understood about what was happening. She seemed surprised that he was there, perhaps this was an accident? He grimanced. That made it even worse then.

Either way, he was going to protect her, even at the cost of his life, his own wish for the grail be damned.

***

What in the world was going on?

A man appeared from the circle and now he was in her kitchen, apparently making her hot chocolate? Bernadetta pinched her cheek hard and winced. Nope, this was not a dream. She slowly got to her feet, and rubbed her tailbone as she peeked into the kitchen.

It was almost comical seeing this tall man clad in armor in her kitchen stirring some hot chocolate mix into a cup.

“I think the ratio is right,” he murmured to himself, staring at the back of the packet, probably looking at the instructions. “Yeah, but it looks a little too light.” He paused and glanced in her direction and she couldn’t help but squeak and jump back.

“I’m sorry for looking!”

“It’s okay.” He came out with the cup and held it out to her. “Here. For you. You want me to take the chalk bucket?”

Realizing she was still holding it, she numbly switched it for the cup of hot chocolate.

“Let’s see, we’re probably going to need a place to sit.” He looked at the chalk circle on the floor and then the couches against the wall. “Well how do you feel about the floor?”

“Huh? It...it’s okay.” She lowered herself to the ground and he sat down as well, far enough away that he couldn’t reach out and grab her.

“You probably have a lot of questions, I assume. I have a feeling that you didn’t mean to summon a Servant on purpose.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“A Servant?”

“My name is Sylvain Gautier, Rider class.”

“Rider?”

He nodded. “I am your sword and shield for the Holy Grail War.”

“Holy what?” Bernadetta’s hands tightened on the cup as Sylvain explained the rules of the War. Seven masters were chosen and they would fight until only one was left standing, the winner being awarded the Holy Grail which could grant any wish. The Masters would each summon a Servant in one of the eleven possible classes to fight for them.

“But I don’t…” She looked down at her left hand, the command seals a symbol that she was a Master in the war. “I didn’t want to…”

“I thought so.” He gestured to the circle. “You did create a summoning circle to call a Servant to you and since you did not have a catalyst, the grail chose someone that would pair well with you.”

“It chose someone?” Why did he make it seem like the Holy Grail was alive? Hang on, this whole thing sounded like something out of a book, the wish granting cup being alive probably made sense in something like this. However why would the grail chose someone like him? Sylvain looked like the type of her person that would be popular and rich and she, well, she was just Bernie.

“I didn’t get your name? I mean I’ll probably just call you Master but what’s your name? Just for me to know.”

“Bernie-Bernadetta Varley.”

He seemed taken aback by that response but again he quickly seemed to adjust his expression to neutrality. “I see. Bernie. I’ll stick with Master.”

“Uh…okay…” It would be so weird to be called that though. She wrung her hands together. “What if I don’t want to fight? I mean I did by accident.”

“I don’t think the Grail allows a take-back. You are now a Master in the war, no matter what. However, I will say this, I will protect you Master, no matter what. You will be safe with me.”

She wished she could be as confident as he felt. She didn’t even know how to fight for crying out loud! “But what is in it for you?” she stammered. “I mean, you said the Grail grants the master a wish.”

“The Servant gets a wish granted as well. That is the exchange for choosing to fight in the war.”

“What would you wish for? Oh, sorry, that was probably too nosy of me. Stupid Bernie, you had to ask such a weird question-” She froze, feeling a hand pat her on the head. A gentle, soft touch, and her eyes flickered up to see Sylvain next to her. Usually something like this would have freaked her out, someone touching her without warning and a boy nonetheless would send her screaming. However it didn’t, his touch somehow more comforting that anxiety provoking and oddly familiar.

“Sorry.” He pulled his hand away and shifted back so he wasn’t in her personal space. “I didn’t ask you before I did that.”

“It’s okay…” She looked at the ground. “Now what though?”

“For now I guess we can get that chalk out of the floor and get your room back in order. I can sense that the war has not begun yet so we have some time to prepare and plan.” He got to his feet and held out a hand and gave her a playful wink. “Trust me Master, everything is going to be fine.”

She gulped and took his hand, really hoping that would be the case. 


End file.
